Girls grow into what they are by learning life-changing skills and using them.

Choose

April 16, 2010

A little video I put together while I was sick in bed with a cold last week. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think! Thanks. If you go to OneMillionButterflies.org you can see more about this thing I'm doing called One Million Butterflies that I'm hoping others will want to be a part of. You can read stories there about women who are making a difference because of education. Yippee!

January 19, 2010

When I heard about the Oprah's No Phone Zone pledge I didn't know how much it would effect the way I drive by simply choosing not to use my phone in the car. I just got back from running an errand, and I couldn't believe how much more attentive I was. What shocked me the most was that I was more present. I saw--really saw--real, living people: couples crossing the street, break lights in front of me, traffic lights changing. Wow. I wasn't thinking about all the things I had to do, or who I needed to call. I was shocked to realize just how dangerous I had become as a driver by using my cell phone.

January 15, 2010

I went to a meeting on the Haitian rescue efforts last night at UVU, put on by local Haitians. I felt helpless to know what to do, and frankly, so did they. Today on Oprah she announced that even donating $10 to the Red Cross can help. I've thought a lot about the suffering that we all go through in life, some much more than others, and I've come to one simple conclusion (still with so many questions):

We either allow suffering to refine and define us,

or confine and undermine us.

It’s our choice.

The words came to me out of the blue yesterday and I keep thinking about what they mean for me. Plus, it works for me because it rhymes. There are so many in pain. There are so many in this world who are enslaved, cold, hungry, ignored, or in the case of the earthquake in Haiti, crushed spiritually or physically.

But I know this, at all times our challenges give us the opportunity to fall to our knees, to define ourselves by our hope and faith in Father's wisdom and mercy. They also give us the opportunity to turn inward, to let our hearts harden in bitterness, resentment, and the inability to hope that, even for an instant, there is a grander design. As always, it inevitably comes back to love. Perhaps in this case it is the love that Father has for us at all times and in all places, no matter what is going on in our lives. I believe he wants us to be refined and defined by our faith, our hope, and the charity we have for those around us--and for ourselves.